The number of sexual cyber crimes recorded by police has soared over the past three years, according to new research. The Scottish Government has announced an expert group to tackle sexual crime as new analysis by statisticians revealed the scale of the problem. Sexual crimes in the category that includes…

A man who threatened to put intimate footage of a former partner online has become the first person to be convicted in Scotland under new tougher legislation. Kenneth Robinson, 59, was banned from approaching or contacting his victim for three years after pleading guilty to sending her numerous emails and…

An online blackmailer whose Northern Irish teenage victim later took his own life has been sentenced to four years in prison. Ronan Hughes, 17, from Co Tyrone, died in June 2015 after he was targeted by Romanian Iulian Enache, 31. Enache will be released in October 2019 after he was…

Nearly half of girls aged 11 to 18 have suffered harassment or abuse on social media, according to a survey. The poll found close to three-in-four (73%) have had to take action to avoid criticism online, such as blocking other users or staying off sites altogether. Tanya Barron, chief executive…

Children as young as five have been excluded from school for sexual misconduct, an investigation has found. Hundreds of school pupils have been either permanently or temporarily kicked out of the classroom in the last four years after being involved in sexual acts, including watching pornography and sharing indecent images,…

A new law tackling so-called revenge porn has come into effect across Scotland. The offence will cover situations where someone shares filmed or still images of another person in an intimate situation. This includes images taken in private where someone is nude or clothed only in underwear, or showing a…

Trying to protect children from all online risks may be futile, according to a new report, which says youngsters are increasingly conducting their online lives in private. The study also warns that more than a third (37%) of UK 15-year-olds are now "extreme internet users", who are on their computers…

Thousands of cases of child sexual abuse linked to the internet were recorded by police last year, figures show. Rape, sexual assault and grooming were among the offences logged which had a "cyber flag", meaning the crime had an online element, with the youngest victim aged three. The NSPCC, which…